Dustin Hoffman talks about his career

“What a collaborative adventure it is,” Dustin Hoffman says. Then tears appear unexpectedly in his eyes. “I don’t mean to be emotional,” he says, his voice husky. Yet this is his art form, when artists improvise with their psyches, with their truths, effortlessly sparking one another. He sighs: “It’s as close to the jazz experience as you can get.”

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Kevin from The Office: A nothing role to something

Brian Baumgartner on how he got the part: “So I took a risk, and when I went in to the audition, I read those [lines] as though I were Kevin. At the end of the discussion someone said, ‘Why don’t we give him this other character?’ … And that’s how the part was won.”

When he finished, someone —- he thinks it was executive producer Greg Daniels —- asked him, “How did you do that?”

“I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘Well, it was like there was nothing happening but something was happening.’

How he did it was by performing all kinds of variable roles (including Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman”) in the theater for eight years after graduating from Southern Methodist University, where he majored in theater.

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David Mamet likes to yell. Duh.

David Mamet is great, isn’t he? I’ve read his book True and False several times and it’s just great. You should give it a read if you haven’t had the opportunity.

Anyway, in her upcoming memoir, “Take Your Shirt Off and Cry,” actress-playwright Nancy Balbirer writes how the playwright went nuts when his students spoke too quietly.

” ‘Get the [bleep] off my stage! Now,’ he’d bellow . . . ‘And,’ he’d continue, his short, burly body bouncing around like a school-yard bully in need of his daily Ritalin, ‘Don’t [bleep]ing come back until we can hear you. How dare you? You’re whispering. On the stage. It’s [bleep]ing passive-aggressive. You know, only people who are full of [bleep] whisper,’ ” Balbirer writes.

Click here for more craziness

Ed Asner on SAG’s Choice

“If you stand together, you cannot lose. Actors cannot be beaten except by actors. The guild is for you, and you must be for the guild. Stand together.”

Eddie Cantor, president, Screen Actors Guild, at the guild’s first annual membership meeting, El Capitan Theater, Hollywood, May 13, 1934

The guild is for me, and I am for the guild.

One of the singular privileges of my life is having served as president of my union. No laurels ever bestowed upon me meant as much. I love my union, and it has taken good care of me throughout my acting career.

But I now fear for the future of the Screen Actors Guild and for the acting profession.

Over the years, I’ve been accused of being crusty, crotchety, curmudgeonly and stubborn. And those were the nicer adjectives. Today, I embrace such descriptions, speaking with both my brain and my backbone.

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Back from the East

I’m back from the Holiday Vacation!

I wanted to thank everyone who wrote and sent in their ideas and tips - keep them coming!

We’re planning a lot of great stuff for this new year - interviews, podcasts and more contests! Who doesn’t like free stuff?

I’m also going to do a slight change to the look of the sight. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks to everyone who subscribed, visited and helped out this year!

Eartha Kitt is gone

Eartha Kitt, a sultry singer, dancer and actress who rose from South Carolina cotton fields to become an international symbol of elegance and sensuality, has died. She was 81.

Her career spanned six decades, from her start as a dancer with the famed Katherine Dunham troupe to cabarets and acting and singing on stage, in movies and on television.

Click here for her obituary

‘Sopranos’ Actor Is Found Dead

John Costelloe, an actor who was best known to viewers of “The Sopranos” for his role as the gay lover of a mobster, has died, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, The Associated Press reported.

Citing a New York City police spokesman, the A.P. said Costelloe, 47, was found dead in his Brooklyn home on Dec. 18.

A former New York City firefighter, he was cast in “The Sopranos” in 2006 as a short-order cook, Jim Witowski, known as Johnny Cakes. His character was involved with Joseph Gannascoli, who played Vito Spatafore, a mob henchman seeking to keep his gay life secret.

Former Middle Class Actors from the past

Check this out - someone made this video and posted it on YouTube. It has a bunch of the actors who have signed the “No Strike” petition back in the day… back when they relied on residuals like most of the readers to this site.

Marisa Tomei talks about ‘The Wrestler’ and taking off her clothes

Do you think the media, people who have interviewed you about this or about Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead have been inordinately interested in the nudity that you’ve been doing?

“Actually, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that it’s all been treated really respectfully, and if anything, I’ve maybe noticed some of the women feeling kind of… empowered is too strong a word, but they feel connected somehow… It’s just surprising to me, and it’s a nice surprise. I mean, Mickey’s character is nude, practically, the whole time, too. [laughs] Maybe it’s just… that’s the very essence of this whole thing, is that it’s people who use their bodies for a living, and that’s the theme…”

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Worst Films of 2008

MSNBC has compiled a list of the worst films of 2008. I’ve seen two - The Love Guru (this is seriously truly awful) and 88 Minutes (not as bad as T.L.G.).

They also list the new Will Smith movie, Seven Pounds. Anyone seen it yet? Is it bad?

Click here for the list

Ex-con turned actor puts his life on film

Brian Goodman, a south Boston guy who came from a life of crime has just written and directed his first feature film starring Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke, Amanda Peet and Mark Wahlberg.

The movie, “What Doesn’t Kill You,” is a gritty, semi-autobiographical look at his life as a hood. Goodman was on the street at age 12, sold drugs to survive and has been shot several times in deals gone bad.

Hm… Anyone want to knock off a couple of 7-11’s with me?

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Five questions with actor Freddy Rodriguez

People who grew up in the Midwest or East always complain about the weather in L.A. around the holidays.

When all you know is white Christmases, you come out here and think, “This doesn’t feel like Christmas to me.” You just try to make the best of it. You put up a tree. You turn on the fireplace at night and put on the Tony Bennett Christmas CD. Or the Jackson Five. Or Stevie Wonder. You listen to those guys sing about a winter wonderland, and you can almost believe it’s snowing, right outside your window.

Click here for the other 4 questions

Holiday Schedule Postings

I’m back east for the Holidays so my updates will be a bit spotty.

Keep the mail and comments coming!

The one millionth moment with Mickey Rourke

Man, Mickey Rourke must want an Oscar nomination BAD. He’s everywhere.I have one wish though…I wish he would stop bringing that dog with him everywhere.

Here’s a snippet: “People have asked me for a long time, what’s the best movie you ever made?” Rourke says during a recent interview in Los Angeles. “And I’d say, ‘I haven’t made it yet.’ Somebody asks me now, I say, ‘The Wrestler.’ ”

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Robert Redford & Russell Crowe want you to vote “No”

Robert Redford and Russell Crowe have joined the growing ranks of stars opposed to a strike.

Julianne Moore and Hilary Duff (Hillary signed on? I’m totally swayed!) have also added their names to the petition urging SAG not to hold a strike ballot.

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SAG Awards - The Nominations

15th ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® NOMINATIONS
THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
RICHARD JENKINS / Walter Vale - “THE VISITOR” (Overture Films)
FRANK LANGELLA / Richard Nixon - “FROST/NIXON” (Universal Pictures)
SEAN PENN / Harvey Milk - “MILK” (Focus Features)
BRAD PITT / Benjamin Button - “THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON” (Paramount Pictures)
MICKEY ROURKE / Randy - “THE WRESTLER” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
ANNE HATHAWAY / Kym - “RACHEL GETTING MARRIED” (Sony Pictures Classics)
ANGELINA JOLIE / Christine Collins - “CHANGELING” (Universal Pictures)
MELISSA LEO / Ray Eddy - “FROZEN RIVER” (Sony Pictures Classics)
MERYL STREEP / Sister Aloysius Beauvier - “DOUBT” (Miramax Films)
KATE WINSLET / April Wheeler - “REVOLUTIONARY ROAD” (Paramount Vantage)
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And the winner of ‘Acting Class’ by Milton Katselas is…..

Heather Pier!

Thanks to Heather and everyone who participated in the contest! We had a ton of responses!

Eric Bogosian wants you to know how he is voting

Dear Friends,

The New York Board of the Screen Actors Guild has released a statement of non-support for the upcoming strike authorization vote. I am writing to tell you that I was not part of the meeting in which this resolution was adopted, I did not vote for it and I object to it. Up to this point, I have kept quiet outside the boardroom. But since others think they have the right to speak for me, I must speak for myself.

I will support a “yes” vote for strike authorization. This is how I will vote and this is how I would recommend all membership to vote.

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Mickey Rourke’s Oscar campaign too much of a good thing?

Anytime you read something about the Oscar race, or if you happen to live in Los Angeles or New York, you’re likely to run into the “Wrestler” star and his comeback tale.

The Rourke full-court press shows what has become a popular, even dominant, method of actor campaigning. Call it the Pennsylvania Democratic primary method — if a story gets told enough times, momentum gathers, goodwill accumulates and a nomination is born. Or so consultants hope.

Click here for the story

To Strike or Not to Strike

Does the New York Times have the answer?

If Tom Hanks, a superstar with an everyman bent and a reputation for fairness, is not on your side, do you still have a shot?

This is a great article - read it here

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